MH-271 Zoon van snooK - (Falling From) The Nutty Tree(Falling from) The Nutty Tree, the debut long player from enigmatic Bristolian Zoon van snooK, playfully treads a fine line between the ostensibly gleeful and affably sinister echelons of the Oddtronica spectrum. Chopped, clipped and pulverised beats, tacit vocal samples, found sound and curious field recordings provide the rhythmical backdrop to an accompanying plethora of plucked, chimed and slapped instrumophones. Jazz-flecked piano chords, bucolic melodies of layered ukuleles and accordions, combined with the throb of glitched-out synth lines create an infectious journey through Zoon’s left-of-centre electrickery. With nods to the likes of Four Tet, Boards of Canada and Múm, (Falling from) The Nutty Tree is a warm, humorous and hook-laden sonic collage of Kitchen-sink eccentronica.

Tracklist

01. Shall He? Shanty

02. Cuckoo

03. Lomograph

04. The Cross I'd Bear

05. The Two Knives (Cuckoo's Reprise)

06. Half Term (8:08)

07. Sculptress

08. Ee'm Yorn

09. Pearl St Mess

10. Plainsong

11. Le Fin

Release Details

Release Date: 12/07/2010

Running Time: 44:42

Download/Available/$7.00

CD/Available/$10.00

LOSSLESS/Available/$10.00

Territory: World

Reviews Summary

Journey through the experimental sounds of a mad scientist and lose yourself within layers of acoustic and glitched out electronic synths thrown into a roaring explosion of beats and vocal compositions. Alec takes audible cues from influences such as Four Tet, Boards of Canada and Múm and the end result is a sonic collage of epic proportions. - Deftune

If Gregg Gillis (a.k.a. Girl Talk) were to write his own music, it would sound a little something like Zoon Van Snook and its latest scatterbrained electro-ambient smorgasbord. The obscure (Falling From) The Nutty Tree will entrance audiophiles but send the public running for Advil. When tuning into the largely instrumental-based album, it’s easy to get past the electronic tings that layer the album, but the piano solos and speech samplings create a mystifying fog, making comprehension nearly impossible. A unique blend of ambience and techno-vibes disillusion the listener from reality. The electronics waver with skills almost comparable to electronic masterminds like Dan Deacon or Justice. The ambient synthesizing is akin to a codeine-drunk Radiohead or an unrefined Sigur Rós. The musical spectrum Zoon Van Snook blankets on this album is not as narrow as one would hope, but wide enough to continue listening, to see where it goes next. There is a hint of continual rhythm in “Ee’m Yorn,” but outside of this one, the reader is hard pressed to find a beat that lasts for over a minute. Outside of this song, the album goes from one extreme to the next, usually within a song, making a complete listen intolerable. The tangibility of (Falling From) The Nutty Tree is barely present, but its degree of obscurity creates an ounce of interest to triumph through this turbulent album. But what would you expect from an artist named Zoon Van Snook? - Daily Tar Heel